This SC city is among best places to retire in the US, Forbes says. Here’s why

Greenville is among the top places to retire in the nation, according to Forbes.

The magazine researched 950 places, looking for affordable, high-quality of life for its Best Places to Retire in 2025 list, which was published on May 9.

It also examined the median price of single-family homes in the United States, now $404,000, a 50% increase since 2020.

Forbes said the median price for a Greenville single-family home is $317,000, and the overall cost of living is 9% below the national average.

The magazine also examined state taxes, the economy, air quality, serious crime, the availability of primary care doctors, and active lifestyles.

Fargo, North Dakota, is the only city that has been on the Forbes list for all 15 years the magazine has featured it.

Forbes described Greenville as a “hilly college town (home to Furman University and Bob Jones University) of 75,000 in South Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains region, midway between Atlanta and Charlotte.”

Why Forbes favored Greenville

Besides the attractive median home price the area has “excellent ratio of primary care doctors per capita, agreeable climate, somewhat walkable and bikeable. Good air quality. No state estate or inheritance tax,” said Forbes.

The magazine did also note the 32-acre Falls Park downtown overlooking Reedy River Falls.

“Between the Reedy and a network of creeks, parts of the area are prone to floods, particularly when events like last year’s Hurricane Helene bring heavy rain. But the city is still 200 miles inland from the coast and has a favorable, relatively moderate risk rating from FEMA,” Forbes said.

Forbes said the downside is a serious crime rate above the national average and a relatively high income tax of 6.2% for couples, but no tax on Social Security and $10,000 per person of other retirement income.

The magazine featured Andy and Doreen Costa, who moved to Simpsonville from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, after attending a wedding in Greenville in 2023.

They sold their California house, which had increased in value sixfold since they bought it in 1996, and bought a house almost twice the size and for hundreds of thousands less than what they sold their home for.

Now, their daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren, 4 and 2, live with them.

Andrew Costa said living in the Greenville area was terrific.

“And there’s no traffic,” he added.

What are the top places to retire in the US?

Travel + Leisure ranked Greenville the best place to retire in South Carolina last year. Forbes did not use the same model to rank cities; instead, it listed them alphabetically.

The other cities on the Forbes list are:

Apache Junction, Arizona

Athens, Georgia

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

College Station, Texas

Columbia, Missouri

Fargo, North Dakota

Iowa City, Iowa

Lawrence, Kansas

Lexington, Kentucky

Lincoln, Nebraska

Madison, Wisconsin

Newark, Delaware

Pasco, Washington

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Raleigh, North Carolina

Rochester, Minnesota

San Antonio, Texas

Savannah, Georgia

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Spokane, Washington

Tucson, Arizona

The Villages, Florida

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Winchester, Virginia.

This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 8:00 AM.